Indian Music Experience Museum, Bangalore   presents ‘Music, Materials & Iconography’, a lecture by Professor Sharada Srinivasan, Archaeologist, Art Historian and Metallurgist. The lecture will delve into aspects of instrument making, materials used and their iconographic representation in South Indian architecture.

Indian sculptural and artistic representations from antiquity are great repositories and insights into aspects of its rich musical legacy. Connections may also be discerned to certain surviving musical instrument traditions. Through this illustrated talk, Prof. Sharada Srinivasan will touch on selected aspects of musical instrument making, the materials and techniques used and their iconographic depictions, in the context of South India.

Drawing on representations in Indian sculpture and art, the lecture will explore long-standing traditions such as musical cymbal in Kerala, and stringed instrument making in Thanjavur. Then exploring the intriguing topic of the lithophones or resonant stones, the finds of resonant rocks with cupules from the Neolithic Sanganakallu in north Karnataka and the so-called ‘musical pillars at Hampi. The talk also touches on preliminary petrographic and acoustic studies, which taken in conjunction with sculptural depictions and other examples of resonant stones from south Indian temple contexts, suggest the likelihood of some intentionality on the part of the makers.

Date: Thur, August 03, 2023

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Venue: IME Performance Theatre, JP Nagar, Bangalore

Open to all.